Regulations regarding instructor interaction in online courses: Federal: Higher Education Opportunities Act (2010): The HEOA defines distance education as education that uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor, synchronously and asynchronously. Accreditation (2012): ACCJC: Is there a policy that defines regular and substantive interactions for DE courses? (34 C.F.R. 602.3.) Definition of Distance Education and Correspondence Education Distance education and correspondence education are common delivery mechanisms in American higher education. A sizable proportion of institutions that are campus-based offer some portion of the curriculum and programs in a distance education format, and there are a relatively small, but growing number of institutions that offer educational services solely through distance education. In 2006, the Higher Education Act revised regulations that had restricted the use of distance education by institutions eligible for Title IV financial aid. Effective July 1 of that year, institutions were no longer restricted to offering less than fifty percent of a degree program via distance education in order to regain eligibility. The regulatory changes are likely to increase the number of programs campus-based institutions offer through distance education as well as generate opportunity for some new, solely distance education based institutions to emerge in the WASC region. The Commission Policy on Distance Education and on Correspondence Education (See Accreditation Reference Handbook) has been revised continuously to reflect the changes made to the 2006 Higher Education Act and to the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 that provides greater emphasis on Distance Education and Correspondence Education. The Commission Policy provides the following definitions of Distance Education and Correspondence Education. These definitions are congruent with the definitions in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. Definition of Distance Education Distance education is defined, for the purpose of accreditation review as a formal interaction which uses one or more technologies to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and which supports regular and substantive interaction between the students and instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously. Distance education often incorporates technologies such as the internet; one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; audio conferencing; or video cassettes, DVDs, and CD- ROMs, in conjunction with any of the other technologies. Definition of Correspondence Education Correspondence education means:
(1) Education provided through one or more courses by an institution under which the institution provides instructional materials, by mail or electronic transmission, including examinations on the materials, to students who are separated from the instructor; (2) Interaction between the instructor and the student is limited, is not regular and substantive, and is primarily initiated by the student; (3) Correspondence courses are typically self-paced; and, (4) Correspondence education is not distance education. A Correspondence course is: (1) A course provided by an institution under which the institution provides instructional materials, by mail or electronic transmission, including examinations on the materials, to students who are separated from the instructor. Interaction between the instructor and student is limited, is not regular and substantive, and is primarily initiated by the student. Correspondence courses are typically self-paced; (2) A course which is part correspondence and part residential training, the Secretary considers the course to be a correspondence course; and, (3) Not distance education. 1 The Commission recognizes and embraces distance education as a convenient, flexible, and effective means of providing quality education. Many working students with multiple demands on their time find that distance education meets their needs better than campusbased education. Many campus-based students are now taking at least part of their educational programming through distance education classes. For some institutions, the pedagogical strategies successfully used in distance education classes with distant students (for example, online chat rooms and electronic voting or feedback) have been incorporated into routine programs and services offered in classrooms on campus or provided for students who are physically on campus and don t necessarily need to use technology to connect with the campus. State: Title 5 Regulations (2008): Regulations: Title 5 and the Distance Education Guidelines for the California Community Colleges state: 55202. Course Quality Standards. The same standards of course quality shall be applied to any portion of a course conducted through distance education as are applied to traditional classroom courses, in regard to the course quality judgment made pursuant to the requirements of section 55002, and in regard to any local course quality determination or review process. Determinations and judgments about the quality of distance education under the course quality standards shall be made with the full involvement of faculty in accordance with the provisions of subchapter 2 (commencing with section 53200) of chapter 2.
55204. Instructor Contact. In addition to the requirements of section 55002 and any locally established requirements applicable to all courses, district governing boards shall ensure that: (a) Any portion of a course conducted through distance education includes regular effective contact between instructor and students, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, correspondence, voice mail, e-mail, or other activities. Regular effective contact is an academic and professional matter pursuant to sections 53200 et seq. (b) Any portion of a course provided through distance education is conducted consistent with guidelines issued by the Chancellor pursuant to section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors. NOTE: Authority cited: Sections 66700 and 70901, Education Code. Reference: Sections 70901 and 70902, Education Code. Guideline for Section 55204 This section defines what contact must be maintained between instructor and student. It is virtually identical to section 55211 which it replaces, except that language has been added to clarify that rules related to conduct of distance education and effective instructor contact apply to any portion of a course conducted through distance education. Subdivision (a) stresses the responsibility of the instructor in a DE course to initiate regular contact with enrolled students to verify their participation and performance status. The use of the term regular effective contact in this context suggests that students should have frequent opportunities to ask questions and receive answers from the instructor of record. The last published Distance Education Guidelines, March 2004, issued by the Chancellor pursuant to section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors, as referenced in subdivision (b), establishes the principle that for DE courses there are a number of acceptable interactions between instructor and student, not all of which may require in-person contact. Thus, districts and/or colleges will need to define effective contact including how often, and in what manner instructorstudent interaction is achieved. It is important to document regular effective contact and how it is achieved. Since regular effective contact was declared an academic and professional matter, this documentation must include demonstration of collegial consultation with the academic senate, for example through its delegation to the local curriculum committee. A natural place for this to occur is during the separate course approval process (see section 55206) as well as during faculty evaluations, student surveys, and program review. Documentation should consist of the inclusion of information in applicable outlines of record on the type and frequency of interaction appropriate to each DE course/section or session. Local policies should establish and monitor minimum standards of regular effective contact.
Local: Regular Effective Contact Policy (2008) MSJC Policy: All DE courses at MSJC, whether hybrid or fully online will include regular effective contact as described below: Initiated interaction: Instructors will regularly initiate interaction with students to determine that they are accessing and comprehending course material and that they are participating regularly in the activities in the course. Providing students with an open ended question forum, although appropriate, does not constitute the entirety of effective instructor initiated interaction. Frequency: DE Courses are considered the virtual equivalent to face to face courses. Therefore, the frequency of the contact will be at least the same as would be established in a regular, face to face course. At the very least, the number of instructor contact hours per week that would be available for face to face students, will also be available, in asynchronous and/or synchronous mode, with students in the DE format. Contact shall be distributed in a manner that will ensure that regular contact is maintained, given the nature of asynchronous instructional methodologies, over the course of a week and should occur as often as is appropriate for the course. Establishing expectations and managing unexpected instructor absence: An instructor and/or department established policy describing the frequency and timeliness of instructor initiated contact and instructor feedback, will be posted in the syllabus and/or other course documents that are made available for students when the course officially opens each semester. If the instructor must be out of contact briefly for an unexpected reason (such as illness or a family emergency that takes the instructor offline), notification to students will be made in the announcements area of the course that includes when the students can expect regular effective contact to resume. If the offline time results in a lengthy absence (i.e. more than three or four days) a substitute instructor should be sought who can assist students while the instructor is unavailable. Type of Contact: Regarding the type of contact that will exist in all MSJC DE courses, instructors will, at a minimum, use the following resources to initiate contact with students: Threaded discussion forums with appropriate instructor participation. ( Questions for the instructor forums are good but should be used in conjunction with other forums.) General email Weekly announcements in the Course Management System Timely feedback for student work. Instructor prepared e-lectures or introductions in the form of e-lectures to any publisher created materials (written, recorded, broadcast, etc.) that, combined with other course materials, creates the virtual equivalent of the face to face class